Stifled Screams
by HannahViBrittania
Summary: Shino Asada has a panic attack and Shinozaki Rika is there to comfort her. (First posted on my AO3 account of the same name)


Shino Asada sat up quietly trying not to disturb the other sleeping females, They had been invited to a slumber party and Shinozaki Rika's apartment AKA Lisbeth in ALO. Shino despite her best efforts could never sleep past around 7-8 am due to nightmares, anyone who knew about what happened in her past could be able to tell what the nightmares where about,years ago at a post office a man had tried to rob it, Asada had been their with her Mother She grabbed the gun and shot him 3 times until he finally died, later the police released to the public that the gun had simply backfired on the robber.

Asada quietly plugged in Rika's coffee machine and began to pour some coffee for herself to wake her up. After that Shino sat on the couch sipping the hot liquid. It would still take a few hours for everyone else to get up so she decided to get on her phone and check the hadn't been much on the news besides a few car crashes due to drunk driving. Shino was about to turn her phone off when she saw this on her screen ' _ **A man has been murdered by a Robber, the weapon used was a type 54 black star mode**_ _l'_ Sinon's vision began to blur in and out as she remembered the moment where she.. took another mans life, though she had been protecting her mother and ended up saving a post office worker and her child she still had frequent nightmares and panic attacks though not as much or as badly. Her breathing became erratic as she tried her hardest not to scream and wake everyone up, she settled for curling into fetal position on the couch still breathing heavily.

Rika woke up groggily and checked the time _9:10_ She decided to just get up and make some coffee when she saw someone "Shino?" she said cautiously though getting no response. She slowly walked up to the shaking girl, putting her hand on her shoulder she shook it a bit waiting for a response from Asada finally Shino became aware of her surroundings enough to respond with a shaky voice "Ri-Rika is that you?" Rika nodded, Asada then said something that surprised her "S-sorry" She sniffled a bit after that "Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything Asada." She responded "Even after all you've done to help I still.." Her sentence trailed off though Lis was able to easily fill in the blanks taking a deep breath she said "Shino, you can't help that" that was all it took for Asada to be thrown into a sobbing fit, grasping Lisbeth's shirt to which started stroking Asada's hair "shh it's alright" Trying her best to calm her down, eventually she did though she didn't stop her shaking. Throughout this all everyone in the other room stayed asleep.

They were both curled up on the couch both drained after what had just occured the clock said: _10:00 A.M_ Shino spoke up "Hey Rika, how would you feel about.. say joining GGO with me for a bit?" "You mean Gun Gale? I mean It sounds alright but what about everyone else in ALO?" "Oh that doesn't matter you can make a new account so you don't lose your items converting." Their conversation ended with Lisbeth wondering whether or not to do it finally she had agreed to if only for a few days, Shino was quite ecstatic to say the least. They made a set time for when Rika was to join up with Asada in GGO the date was _October 3, 2024._ exactly a week from today. Still the other girls had not gotten up. Asada had gone into the bathroom to wash up. Rika kept wondering what set her off when she saw Shino's phone blinking she read it and immediately understood what the problem was, type 54 black star the same gun Shino Asada had used all those years ago. Immediately she got the phone off the page to keep Asada from having too see it again

Asada began splashing water on her red and blotchy face hoping to get rid of the evidence that she had just bawled her eyes out in front of someone else.. she had looked so.. so weak even after all she worked for even after she had tried so hard to be stronger. She knew she had to stop beating herself up about it but even still she couldn't. At least she could trust Rika enough to know that she'd probably just forget about it and not mention it again, hoping that everyone was still asleep she turned to the bathroom mirror and put on her glasses, They actually weren't prescription glasses her vision was two times as better as an average person.

Asuna awoke noticing two others missing in the midst of the other girls, Shino and Rika were missing probably woke up earlier than the others Asuna checked her cellphone the time was: _10:45 A.M._ Much later than she had planned to sleep definitely longer than she was allowed to sleep at her own home, as such she felt quite refreshed. As she made her way through the house she spotted two others "Asada Rika that you?" they both responded by quickly nodding their two heads. "Finally up huh Asuna?" Asuna smiled and laughed at that remark. "Why were you two up so early?" she spoke cheerfully however the mood immediately darkened, Asuna could tell exactly what had occurred, trying to change the subject she spoke up, "Hey should I wake everyone else up?" It worked thankfully as Asada responded "That sounds alright we have something to tell all of you. A few minutes later they were all gathered Shinozaki Rika spoke up ending the silence "So, Asada and I have started dating." The responses were varied Silica AKA Ayano Keiko blushed fiercely, Asuna just smiled and said how happy she was for them then mentioned how she though Kazuto's reaction would be the funniest. They both agreed on that everyone pretty much excepted the fact that they were dating

Kazuto Kirigaya rode on his motorbike to a cafe called 'Dicey Cafe' not the best sounding name but that didn't matter on the outside it didn't seem like much, but on the inside it was quite a great place. Asuna had called him earlier claiming that they had something to share with him. Kazuto arrived and entered to find Rika, Asada, and his girlfriend Asuna there. Rika spoke "Okay so well me and Shino are... dating."

Kazuto's jaw might as well have dropped on the floor. He stammered "I- you- when?!" Sinon guffawed banging on the table finally choking out "You were right Asuna his reaction was the best!" still shocked Kazuto turned to Asuna shocked she smiled back at him. Gathering his nerve he said "Well that's great.. so uh how long has everyone else known about this?" "Oh we told them a week ago." "You waited to tell me? why?" Asuna was now the one to respond "As Sinonon (her nickname for Sinon) said we thought your reaction would be the funniest so we saved it for last." Throughout this Rika remained quiet finally she spoke up "Klein's was the second funniest." Afterwards they had ordered drinks and then left.


End file.
